Lessons from the Japanese ‘regional revitalisation’ – impacts of regional industrial policies through decentralisation

The current Japanese Regional Revitalisation policy emerged from a unique combination of demographic, geographical and socio-economic challenges to address growing disparities between urban and rural areas. This is due to the over-concentration of population and economic activities in Tokyo and other metropolitan areas, combined with the out-migration of the youth from lagging regions, especially, young females. In response to a call for international comparative policy research and analysis to tackle similar societal challenges, this paper analyses the policy contexts of the Japanese Regional Revitalisation and the UK Levelling Up agendas. It highlights a series of place-based industrial policy measures in Japan over the last decades illustrated by two local case studies of city-regions. The Japanese decentralisation process may be unique as it presents a form of top-down transfer of industrial policies to local governments including innovation and start-up supports. The decentralisation must be accompanied by adequate funding and fiscal autonomy, enabling local and regional governments to manage their own resources.